Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson
Directed By: Gabriele Muccino
Written By: Grant Nieporte
Released: 2008
Grade: B

The trailer for Seven Pounds was pretty non-descriptive and didn’t really give you a good idea about what the film is like. After seeing the film, I see that preserving what the movie is about was really a blessing. Rather than reflecting a lackluster film, it reflects a film that is full of mystery.

Ben Thomas (Smith) is an IRS agent with a haunting secret. In search of redemption he finds 7 deserving people who he sets out to help. When Ben audits Emily (Dawson) who is knee deep in medical bills, she initially feels like she is being stalked and at the very least Ben is not following the typical auditor protocol. He decides to give her a break and give her an extra 6 months to try to get some of her finances together. Even after this is settled though, he doesn’t go very far. He is staying at a motel just a number of blocks away. Soon Emily starts to feel a connection with him. When she ends up in the hospital he is the first person that she calls, the one who gets her through a hard time. She learns that she needs a heart transplant and because of her rare blood type she has a very slim chance of actually getting a donor. Ben spends the night at the hospital and is there for her one night after the other. It is clear that they are falling for each other, which creates complications especially since Emily could be taken away from him at any minute. Not to mention Ben has a secret plan that he is executing that could change everything.

Will Smith did very well with this. He didn’t have the easiest character to portray as there are so many revelations. We see flashbacks of a very different man; the man that he used to be. Even in the present state though he ranges from obnoxious to warmhearted to lonesome and always has this adamant determination not just for his own redemption, but to make a difference in a deserving person’s life. There are so many characters within the one, but through every moment Smith really conveys these emotions. Rosario Dawson follows his lead perfectly. When he gives off this desperation of loneliness, she is there feeding that and showing a need to reach and understand him. When he is more enthusiastic she gives that same positive energy back. When he is a bit shady and mysterious, she stands up and is confrontational towards him. The two really work wonderfully together, without the chemistry that these two had the film wouldn’t have been nearly as engaging. We have a great mixture of pity, admiration, and curiosity for Smith’s character and Dawson is this good-hearted and strong person who radiates beauty from the inside out.

One thing that really made Smith’s performance, his character, and the film as a whole interesting was the amount of mystery that was put in to who this man is, where he is from, what has happened to him, and why he is doing what he is. There are so many fundamental questions that we don’t really know the answer too. The film doesn’t let us in on anything until the last moment that it can for the story to work. The film at its core is a romantic mystery of life and death. It begins and ends with death and deaths there are deaths as well as lives saved throughout it. We see lowly conditions from medical conditions to mental and emotional states. Even some that are living, seem very lifeless in one way or another. There is a very gloomy feel, but with this hope that carries it forward.

The film does have a fairly slow pace. This isn’t as much with the story, but more so with Smith’s character as it takes the entire film to develop him and to give us a real understanding. Some people won’t have the patience for this and not really knowing the character can create a lack of interest. The prevailing feeling was this large curiosity for this man, creating a great mystery in trying to figure it out. There are a lot of flashbacks in the film and there is a lot of jumping between the past and present. This can be a little hectic at times. While the lives that were lost were crucial to the story, showing the flashbacks again and again seemed pointless and really didn’t change much in the film. As long as we had the background of the need for redemption the actual flashbacks would be better left out of the film. I went in to Seven Pounds with very low expectations. Surprisingly enough though it held my interest very well throughout. Pursuit of Happyness director, Gabriele Muccino, does pretty well here to draw you in to the film and keep you interested. The film has this murky and sad feel to it, but through this it increasingly becomes more lively and hopeful. Pursuit of Happyness is the much better Muccino/Smith film. Seven Pounds was a much better film than I thought I would be. It is far from a great film, but is still an intriguing and satisfying movie.